Titans simply smarter with mature Collins at helm
I don't care when Vince Young is ready to return for Tennessee. Kerry Collins is a better fit as the Titans' quarterback ... at least for now.
I became convinced after watching Collins in last weekend's 30-17 defeat of Minnesota, a game where he made no mistakes and few bad decisions. But it was one seemingly insignificant pass that sold me, and cue the Titans' first drive, please.
It's second-and-goal at the Minnesota 9 when Collins takes the snap, steps back and starts to throw left. But his receiver is covered, so he pulls the ball down and pivots in the opposite direction.
Again he pumps, and again he pulls down the ball. Finally, he looks to the middle of the field, sees rookie running back Chris Johnson circling out of the backfield and hits him with a 7-yard pass.
Perfect. It's precisely the sort of play he would not have made 10 years ago.
"It's knowing where your guys are and then having a plan," said Collins. "That's the biggest thing for a quarterback -- to have a plan on every play, see the coverage, know what you have and know what you don't have.
"Chris was an outlet. They gave us a different coverage than they showed us on film, so what we thought was going to be there wasn't. I just tried to find him as an outlet."
The completion led to Tennessee's first score and propelled the Titans to their fourth straight victory, the first time in franchise history the club opened at 4-0. That's a big deal, though there's a scout I trust who told me last week he can't take the Titans seriously because of Collins -- saying, basically, that he doesn't trust the guy.
But that's exactly why I do see Tennessee as a threat: Because I do trust Collins after all these years, and seeing was believing. When he was the quarterback of the New York Giants he was a turnover waiting to happen, setting an NFL record when he fumbled 23 times in 2001.
Sure, he had his moments, like leading the club to Super Bowl XXXV. But there was no consistency, with Collins playing like Carson Palmer one moment and Jesse Palmer the next.
"What you want from your quarterback," said one AFC coordinator, moving his right hand as if he were polishing a table, "is steady, even play. You don't want highs and lows. You're looking for consistent play from the position."
The Titans have that now. A year ago, Young was all over the place, and Tennessee won in spite of him, not because of him. Still, the Titans won, and I defended Young until I saw him flounder against San Diego in an overtime loss.
He tried to be something he wasn't, which was a pocket passer. I don't know if that was under then-offensive coordinator Norm Chow's orders or not, but it didn't work. Vince Young is at his best when he's moving, and neither he nor the passing game moved much all of last season.
